Label: So Recordings
Released: 8th July 2022
There’s a healthy balance of pessimism, optimism and realism on display throughout Sick Joy’s debut. Universal themes of love, life and loss are explored against a backdrop of distortion. This is 90s grunge modernised, without losing any of the grit that made it so special.
Yet Sick Joy are not restrained by genre, with indie and metal influences also peeking through.‘WE’RE ALL GOING TO F***ING DIE’ is full of inescapable earworms like polished opener ‘don’t feel like dying’ and the energetic ‘stay numb’. The latter of which deals with that strange transition from a romantic to platonic relationship.
But the true stand-out is ‘belly aching beast’, an urgent punk tune that features Jamie Lenman.Brilliant from start to finish, this is an album created without inhibitions; authentic yet effortlessly cool. ■ Kelsey McClure
